Irradiating the area of a breast tumor during the operation saves 10 radiotherapy sessions. The Cancer Institute begins the medico-economic evaluation of intraoperative radiotherapy.
As part of a conventional treatment for breast cancer requiring surgery, a patient must undergo six weeks of irradiation at the rate of one session per day. But what happens if we practice a ray session while the patient is still breast open on the operating table? The radiation then hits very precisely the place where the tumor was. The effectiveness of this single session is such that the patient can then do without 10 sessions of radiotherapy. This represents a week and a half less treatment.
Prof. Gilles Houvenaeghel, cancer surgeon, Institut Paoli Calmette, Marseille: “The irradiation zone is exactly in the right place.”
In some cases, for small tumors or in patients over the age of 60, it is even possible to completely dispense with radiotherapy after the operation. This technique is still not widely used in France but could experience rapid development. Since February, seven anti-cancer centers have been using it in France, and the National Cancer Institute (Inca), for its part, begins to assess its medico-economic interest.
Intraoperative radiotherapy, however, requires expensive facilities. The operating room must be sealed so as not to let the radiation escape from the unit, and a dedicated machine must be installed with an articulated arm to place the transmitter at the level of the wound. In addition, the control desk must be located outside the room. There is also the issue of staff training. Substantial investments therefore, but which could be worth it, this is what the study of the Inca will determine. Because more than 20,000 patients are affected by intraoperative radiotherapy.
Prof. Gilles Houvenaeghel: “It would be three to four times cheaper.”
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